The politician, a former police officer, said: “The public have been given an assurance by the police that armed officers will only attend incidents which don’t require a firearms capability when that incident is ‘life-threatening’ or when the officers judges the incident is of sufficient importance to merit their intervention.

“I will raise this matter formally with Police Scotland and hope they will understand why the public are concerned.”

Scottish Conservative transport spokesman Alex Johnstone said: “It appears that this armed police officer has been ticking off a driver for bog standard road traffic offences and this could be seen as heavy-handed.

“The fact that hundreds of police officers are carrying firearms while responding to everyday duties is deeply disturbing.”

She added: ”Drivers and passengers who do not wear a seatbelt are placing themselves at considerable risk if they are involved in an accident.

“Police Scotland’s Standing Firearms Authority means that there is a chance that members of the public will see a small number of our officers in public places wearing side arms.

“Their actions today were in line with the guidance that was introduced in October 2014. They are still police officers and cannot ignore crimes or offences in progress, just because they are wearing a sidearm.”